Simulation Settings

Overview

The simulation settings panel controls how SimulationCraft models the fight. It’s collapsed by default because the defaults work well for most users. Expand it when you need to simulate specific fight conditions.

Settings Reference

Fight Style

Controls the type of encounter being simulated.

Fight Style	Description	Best For
Patchwerk (default)	Single target, no movement	Pure ST DPS check
CastingPatchwerk	Patchwerk but boss casts	Interrupt value testing
LightMovement	Occasional movement (~15s every 85s)	Moderate movement fights
HeavyMovement	Frequent movement (~25s every 20s)	High movement encounters
HecticAddCleave	Boss + frequent add waves + movement	M+ / cleave fights
DungeonSlice	Mixed single/AoE, emulates a dungeon run	Dungeon gear decisions
HelterSkelter	Movement + stuns + interrupts + target switching	Worst-case scenarios

DungeonSlice DPS values

DungeonSlice produces DPS numbers that aren’t directly comparable to other fight styles. Use it only for comparing gear within the same DungeonSlice run — don’t compare DungeonSlice DPS to Patchwerk DPS.

Fight Length

How long the simulated boss fight lasts, in seconds.

• Default: 300 seconds (5 minutes)
• Typical range: 120–600 seconds
• Shorter fights favor burst-heavy builds; longer fights favor sustained DPS

Fight Length Variance

How much the fight length varies between iterations, as a percentage.

• Default: 20% (each iteration is 240–360 seconds)
• Set to 0% for a truly fixed-length fight
• Variance makes results more realistic but adds some noise

Number of Enemies

How many targets are present during the fight.

• Default: 1 (single target)
• Adds additional enemies for cleave/AoE testing
• Higher enemy counts favor AoE-oriented gear

Iterations

How many times each combination is simulated.

• Default: 10,000
• Range: 1,000–100,000
• More iterations = more accurate results but longer runtime
• 10,000 is a good balance for most gear comparisons

When to increase iterations

If two results are very close (within 0.1% DPS), increase iterations to 25,000 or 50,000 to get more precise numbers. The results table shows a ≈ badge when combinations are within statistical noise.

Threads

How many CPU threads SimC uses.

• Default: your CPU core count minus 1 (leaves one core for the OS and the app)
• Higher = faster simulations
• Don’t set this higher than your physical core count

Recommended Presets

Single Target (Raid Boss)

• Fight Style: Patchwerk
• Fight Length: 300s
• Enemies: 1

Mythic+ / Dungeon

• Fight Style: DungeonSlice
• Fight Length: 300s
• Enemies: 1 (DungeonSlice handles its own enemy spawning)

Cleave / Council Fights

• Fight Style: HecticAddCleave
• Fight Length: 300s
• Enemies: 3–5